Jermain Defoe may have played his last game for Portsmouth, his manager, Tony Adams, has admitted. The England international missed training on Friday after calling in sick, heightening speculation that he will soon be moving on.

Portsmouth's executive chairman, Peter Storrie, said on Thursday that Defoe had talked about leaving and the striker has been linked with a return to Tottenham Hotspur to rejoin the former Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, who was also his boss at West Ham United.

"He has a cold and the doctor is on the way to see him," Adams told Sky Sports News. "I don't disbelieve anyone, I trust him and have a good relationship with him."

Defoe is unlikely to be considered for Saturday's home game against Bristol City in the first game of Portsmouth's FA Cup defence and Adams was circumspect when asked how he felt about Defoe's desire to leave. "I'm not pleased because I want people to play for Portsmouth," he said. "But it's better knowing ... if he's got the honesty to come in and tell you. I'm trying to find a positive as he's a fantastic player and one I don't want to lose.

"He's annoyed that I tactically changed the team and didn't play him against Liverpool and Arsenal but I told him my reasons for it." Asked if he thought Defoe would play for Portsmouth again, Adams said: "I don't know."

Storrie, meanwhile, has dismissed suggestions that the club must sell several of their stars this month to balance the books as "a load of rubbish". The owner, Alexandre Gaydamak, is known to be open to offers and reports have repeatedly called Pompey's financial situation into question.

The midfielder Lassana Diarra has already left for Real Madrid in a £20m deal and Defoe is widely expected to follow him out of Fratton Park before the end of January. But Storrie insists any departures in the current transfer window will be at the club's discretion and not as a result of financial necessity.

"Quite simply the media speculation is a load of rubbish," Storrie told the club's website. "The club is not in any financial difficulty. Yes, we are up for sale, but so are about a third of Premier League clubs.

"Sacha Gaydamak will only sell to a buyer who is prepared to invest and take the club to the next level. If that doesn't happen he will continue to support Portsmouth Football Club in the same way that he has for the past three years. Having sold Lassana Diarra to Real Madrid we do not have to sell any more players."

Storrie has even told supporters to expect some fresh talent at the club in the coming weeks. "We have already secured the permanent signing of Nadir Belhadj and Tony [Adams] and I are working on getting some other new faces in as quickly as we can to bolster the squad," he said. "We are also in the process of offering new deals to some of the players who are out of contract at the end of the season."